Introduction: According to current AAP guidelines, a subset of very premature infants unlikely to require treatment for severe ROP must undergo fundus examinations after hospital discharge/transfer. We identify characteristics that predict at-risk infants who will not develop ROP by hospital discharge/transfer.

Methods: Secondary analysis of ROP examination data from infants enrolled in the e-ROP study.(1) We characterized infants without ROP during eye examinations at a given postmenstrual age (PMA) (noROPvisit) and those without any ROP at all examinations prior to study endpoint or hospital discharge/transfer (noROPhistory).

Discussion: Absence of ROP on hospital examination in older PMA infants can further identify infants at lowest risk of developing severe ROP and potentially risk adjust the need for ongoing examinations.

Conclusion: Efforts to determine which infants will not develop ROP in a larger sample could provide insight into ways to minimize low-yield eye examinations, thereby reducing the burden for infants and families after the infant is discharged, and allowing focus of scarce resources on high risk infants.